All in all, the changes would be vast and far-reaching, and would take many years to accomplish. After all was said and done, it was Kai who had blown the whistle, and caused the changes to be made. It would have been daunting without the very real possibility of his own mother’s imprisonment and execution—the mother who had saved him and given him to Lucas as a mate, thereby inadvertently bringing about her own destruction.

Kai himself, though a royal, would be immune from prosecution. Lucas had made this deal with the Alliance officials an absolute prerequisite for his and Kai’s cooperation and information. He’d done it because he loved Kai, no matter what. The Balenescu curse, as well as his own feelings made anything else unthinkable, but he had barely spoken to Kai since the night he’d made his tearful confession. Rationally, he knew Kai had no real knowledge of anything to do with the priestesses—in fact, he was a victim of the ugly bigotry himself, forced to hide who he really was for all those years. If they’d known about him, he would have been murdered too, and that thought gave Lucas a chill down his spine.

His own words to Kai came back to haunt him, though. You can tell me anything. Anything, that is, except the fact that your people are fucking child murderers. Don’t tell me that because I cannot handle it. No matter how much I love you, how much I keep telling myself you’re a victim, I keep hearing the screams of those other tiny victims in my head—all those babies who were being slaughtered as I enjoyed your beautiful body.

The night Kai finally told him, he’d said it was only after he’d married Lucas and come with him to Lycanus 3 that he’d understood. It was then he realized most of what he’d been told all his life had been terrible lies told to cover up what the priestesses were really doing in the name of the goddess. He said that at first he thought the goddess would strike him dead for even thinking such things, so he’d pushed the thought away and refused to believe it. And there was his mother to consider.

And though Lucas’s rational mind reminded him of all this over and over, the idea that Kai knew and hadn’t told him sickened him, and he hadn’t been able to forgive Kai—or himself. He hoped, in time, he would be able to, but for now, he could hardly bear to be in the same room with Kai.

When he’d left Kai in his quarters to come to the comm deck he’d tried to be quiet and not awaken him, especially since he knew it had taken Kai such a long time to go to sleep. Kai rolled over to his back, though and raised himself on his elbows. “Are we there yet?”

Lucas shook his head, still putting on his shoes. “No, but it won’t be too long. It will be mid-morning Scythian time when we arrive and open up a channel to the planet.”

Kai sat up, plucking at the blanket, avoiding looking directly at Lucas. “Could I—would it be possible for me to go down with the inspection team? I-I need to see my mother.”

Lucas paused and looked over at him incredulously. “You know that’s not possible. Don’t be foolish.”

“Lucas, my mother was raised to believe the same things I was. Maybe she didn’t realize…She could have been lied to by the priestesses, too, couldn’t she?”

“Then she and her lawyers can make that case to the judges at her trial.” Lucas stood up and walked toward the door. “Don’t waste your sympathy on her, Kai. Think about the lives your people have taken over the years. That’s what you should be worried about.”

“Lucas…”

The plaintiveness in Kai’s voice brought Lucas up short at the door. He stopped and inclined his head back toward the bed, waiting.

“Lucas, she’s my m-mama.”

The raw grief in Kai’s voice made him sick at his stomach, but he steeled himself to it. He knew he was punishing Kai—punishing himself too—but he couldn’t make himself unbend. “I know. I’m sorry. I have to go, Kai. Try to get some sleep. ”

“Wait!”

He turned to see Kai still sitting up in bed, his arms wrapped around his midsection, rocking himself a little. “You hate me now, don’t you, Lucas? I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice when you speak to me. I’ve really lost everything, haven’t I?”

Lucas wanted to go to him, take him in his arms and tell him how much he loved him. He wanted to, but he couldn’t. Not yet, at least. Still he couldn’t bear to leave him like that either. He walked slowly toward the bed and sat down beside Kai. He shook his head and mumbled something like, “Don’t be foolish,” taking Kai’s hand. He tried to kiss him tenderly, to let the love he felt for him communicate itself to him, but when he touched him and inhaled his sweet scent, a powerful lust for his mate swept over him. He pushed Kai to his back and tore away the sheet. He’d taught Kai to sleep naked since he’d found him, and the sight of his beautiful body, already half-hard for him undid him even further.

Lucas pulled his pants down around his thighs and fell on top of him, grinding against him, his copious pre-cum spreading over Kai’s groin. He wrapped his hand around Kai’s cock and stroked it, pleased to feel it become rigid against his stomach. He got to his knees with a growl, pushing Kai’s legs back. He spit in his hand and rubbed Kai’s hole, but that was all the lubrication he’d get—he was too excited to wait.

Plunging into him, he felt Kai’s tight ring pop as he entered him. He hesitated for just a moment, allowing him to adjust to his size before he thrust in one smooth, hard motion. Kai cried out, but did nothing to resist the invasion. Kai was breathing rapidly, but he was still with him, still seemed to be caught up in Lucas’s passion. His grip was tight on Lucas’s shoulders, and he thrashed his head on the pillow, moaning. Lucas began to fuck him in earnest, pulling out almost to the tip of his cock and then sliding back in again. Kai was grunting with each thrust, so Lucas pulled him up a little higher to change his position and reach his prostate. When he nailed it, Kai screamed and arched his back. Pulling him up higher on his lap, he impaled him there, using his strength to pull him up and then push him back down on his cock over and over again, picking up the pace until he was fucking him rapidly, really pounding him.

He’d never been so rough with Kai before, so out of control, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself or even slow down. He did have the presence of mind to wrap his hand around Kai’s erection and stroke him, keeping time with his own deep thrusts, but he was pretty far gone in his lust. In moments, Kai cried out and came copiously, his cum splashing up over his stomach and chest, even hitting him on the face. Lucas leaned forward to lick it from his chin and at the first taste of Kai’s musky sweetness, he came hard, his cock throbbing and pulsing with each thrust. When he was finally spent, he collapsed against Kai’s chest. He still held him on his lap, and he wrapped his arms around Kai’s shoulders, holding him close. He felt Kai’s tears splashing down on his back and he pulled away to peer into his eyes.

“Don’t cry,” he ordered. “Men don’t cry, Kai.” Kai turned his head away, gulping hard, his breath hitching. He laid Kai down on the bed and got up, wiping at himself with the sheet. He went into the bathroom to clean up, wetting a cloth with warm water to bring to Kai. He cleaned him tenderly while he lay on his back, his hand over his eyes. When he finished, he stood regarding him quietly for a moment before turning back to the door.

“Get some sleep. We’ll be there by morning.”

* * * *

A hand falling on his shoulder startled him from his thoughts and made him turn to see his cousins, Kyle and Nikolai behind him. Nikolai was holding out a cup of coffee to him. “It’s not Lycan tea, but maybe it will do. This coffee is all they had in the commissary, but it’s pretty strong,” Nikolai said. “And hot, at least.”

Lucas nodded, reaching for it thankfully and taking a sip.

“You’ll need the caffeine. You should have gotten some rest before morning,” Kyle said. “We’re entering the Scythian atmosphere, so your conference call to the Scythian council isn’t far away.”

“I’m going to try not to tip our hand. I’ll ask them to allow an inspection team to land first, tell them it’s routine, and a new Alliance regulation. They won’t be happy about it, but I think they’ll agree, with restrictions on the temples and the palace. The team can pretend to make a cursory inspection. Then when the Scythians drop their defensive shields to allow them to come back up, we’ll send down the first wave of the invasion team to force a real inspection. They’ll take over the palace and the primary temple and be able to run things from there. If they find the evidence we think they will, the rest of the strike force will be right behind us. In the meantime, we’ll put the queen and the council members in the dungeons below the palace, as well as the dowager queen, Ashlan.”

His cousins nodded solemnly and Nikolai cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. “That’s Kai’s mother, right? How’s Kai doing anyway? I haven’t seen him at all since we left Lycanus 3.”

“That’s because I confined him to quarters. His meals are being brought to him.”

Nikolai looked startled. “Confined to quarters? He’s your mate, Lucas.”

“I’m well aware of what he is to me, Nikolai. I don’t need you to remind me,” Lucas snapped.

Nikolai raised his chin and stared Lucas down. “No matter how upset I was with Jagger, I’d never leave him alone to suffer like that. With you being so upset, the pain must be pretty bad, and this is his home—his mother and his sister we’re talking about. That’s a little hard-ass even for you, isn’t it, Lucas?”

Lucas snarled at him, barely keeping his temper in check. “Why the fuck do you think I’m sitting up here instead of down there in my quarters getting a little sleep? It’s precisely because I am upset with him and it’s hard to control it. The distance mitigates the pain a little, at least.”

“Not much,” Nikolai said with an accusing snort. “The poor kid must be feeling awful.”